David’s Tower Opened to Israeli Public for First Time Since 1948 War

David’s Tower in Jerusalem, near the Jaffa Gate of the Old City Wall, was opened today to the public for the first time since the 1948 War of Liberation. Jerusalem municipality officials spent about $80,000 to clear a Jordanian barracks structure inside the citadel which was built 2,000 years ago by Herod. It is the only part of ancient Jerusalem which was not destroyed by the Romans. During the years between 1948, when Jordan seized the Old City, and 1967, when Israeli forces liberated it, the citadel was a Jordanian Arab Legion fortress overlooking new Jerusalem.